The Disney park icon is getting a fresh new look.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened in 1994, five years after Disney's Hollywood Studios debuted at Walt Disney World Resort. The attraction remains among the park's most requested rides more than three decades later, and its Lightning Lane offering continues to see high demand relative to standby wait times.
That popularity has held steady even as newer intellectual-property-driven attractions have been added to the Hollywood Studios lineup in recent years. Because of the ride's profile, exterior construction activity on the building draws close attention from park watchers, even when the work is purely cosmetic.
Disney's Hollywood Studios has continued exterior refurbishment work on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, with scaffolding coverage and repainting both advancing this week on Sunset Boulevard.
As of September 2, scaffolding coverage has extended further across the tower structure, now reaching the corner section adjacent to the shaft. Per a report from WDWNT, the majority of the facade above the attraction's sign is currently obscured by scaffolding, and additional scaffolding has been erected on the building's right side to support continued work.
In parallel, repainting of the balcony and chimney stack sections has progressed, with a greater proportion of surface area now showing the new gray finish compared to previous weeks.
The current phase of construction traces back to early May 2026, when work first began in the attraction's outdoor queue area. Later that month, decorative flags previously installed near the gift shop exit were removed, and a scrim was placed as behind-the-scenes work continued.
By early July, scaffolding had appeared on the far right side of the facade above the gift shop, marking the first visible construction on the tower's upper exterior. That scaffolding expanded further in August, when crews began repainting sections of the facade above the gift shop. This repainting work laid the groundwork for the more extensive scaffolding placement and paint application now underway in September.
Despite the expanding scaffolding footprint, Tower of Terror has continued normal operations throughout the refurbishment period. Disney has maintained gaps in the scaffolding at the locations corresponding to the ride vehicle's windows, preserving unobstructed sightlines during the attraction experience.
Guests visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios in the coming weeks should anticipate a visibly altered tower exterior, including scaffolding structures and partial gray repainting across the upper facade and balcony areas. This construction activity is not expected to affect ride operations: wait times, Lightning Lane availability, and the in-ride experience should remain consistent with current guest expectations.
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